Chapter 34: Final examination

On Thursday, Minnie and I set up our stand, and I braid her hair a bit and put a lot of small flower clips in it. With the flowers and her unnaturally long hair, Minnie really looks like a fairytale-princess. I do my own hair in a tidy bun and put a white tulip in it. In addition I'm wearing one of the wrist corsages held in white.
Our advertising seems to be successful, we manage to sell most of our accessories. After closing our stand, I calculate our surplus.
We managed to raise more than enough funds for the May Dance, as expected. We'll even be able to donate some money to the academy, unless the ball committee is too lavish with ball room decorations and stuff.

I wake up early on Saturday to fulfil my treasurer duties as usual. There are way more packages than usual, mostly clothes for the May Dance it seems. Seriously, isn't it a bit late for that? This last-minute-planning… I will have to make several delivery rounds today. Anyways, the May Dance is approaching, soon the game ends.
I take a look at the calendar. April, the 26th. The May Dance is on the first day of May, that's in five days. What will happen, after the game ends?
Will I be able to continue stay here? My chest tightens. I got used to this world. I want to stay here. I don't want to relive the game either…
Suddenly Grabiner comes in, disrupting my thoughts. "Good morning.", I greet him. He glances at me. "Morning, Elise." Then he heads straight for his mail and burns it. Typical. "Miserable old coot.", he grumbles while furrowing his brows. I can't suppress a chuckle. If you get used to his grumpiness, his grumbling becomes kind of cute. "You find this amusing?", he interrogates me with a raised brow. There is no real bite in his voice, so I know, that he isn't angry at me for laughing at him.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to disturb the master of letter-burning in his incineration ritual. You just sounded like a complaining student.", I tease him.
"Horror of horrors.", he replies with his ironic smile. Ah, somehow I'm not depressed anymore. I start humming in a Persian market quietly. "Oh, right, do you play an instrument?", I ask him, as he burns another letter. Two letters this time? "Excuse me?", he replies a bit surprised at my sudden question. I think it was mentioned in the game, that he played an instrument, but I forgot which. "Do you play an instrument? Something suitable for chamber music?"
"I play the flute.", he answers. So that was it… I wonder, if he can play the Moldau from Smetana. "And you?"
"Clarinet. But not on a level, where I'd let others listen.", I reply. I'm not that bad, but I easily get stagefright, which is especially bad, if you're playing a wind instrument, since you have to control your breathing. I pack the last package on the cart, since I can't fit more on it and Hieronymus holds the door open for me, before we head off in different directions, as usual. I need three f-ing rounds, in order to deliver all the packages. It seems, that most students nearly forgot to organize their formal clothing for this evening. How irresponsible.
I consider visiting Hieronymus later, but exams are really close now, so he probably has no time for entertaining me. Since I was preoccupied with my treasurer duties lately, I decide to study during the weekend instead. Speaking about exams, wasn't there something I needed to do, before the exam? What was it?
This question bothers me, but I can't remember what it could've been about. That is, until Potsdam handed me the exam plans on Tuesday morning, and explaining to me, that we will do the exam together. The talk! I should clear up any problems with my roommates, since we need to work together as a team later.
"Guys, our exam schedule arrived." I wave the paper towards my roommates. "Wait, there is a mistake! We're all scheduled for the same time.", Ellen exclaims, after scanning the paper. "Didn't you know? The final is a group exam.", Virginia explains to her. "Does that mean, that if one of us fails, we all fail?", Ellen asks, visibly worried. Afraid of us dragging you down? That's rude! "I'm not sure.", Virginia answers her. "I'm certain, that we will. Which is why we need to talk! We should come clear with everything, so that we'll be able to smoothly function as a team later." …without discussing my feelings for Hieronymus, where he will listen.
"…ok, if you insist.", Virginia reluctantly agrees to my request. Ellen starts to fidget a bit. I cast Silence on the closed door, sit down on my bed and start the conversation, "I gave you some time to come to terms with my marriage. If you have anything to tell me or ask me about this issue, now would be a good time."
Ellen hesitatingly starts to speak, "Elise, I'm sorry, if I wasn't supportive enough of you earlier." "What are you talking about?", Virginia interrupts her.
"About… your marriage. The Professor said we should treat it like it was serious. And I thought, if you were really married… everything would be different. It was easier to deal with if it was just this crazy awful thing that happened to you. Thinking of you as a real teacher's wife… was scary. But it probably was scary for you too."
I kind of don't get Ellen's problem, but as long as everything is fine now…
"Don't feel too sorry for her, she totally has the hots for Grabby.", Virginia nonchalantly comments. "What?", Ellen exclaims in shock. Is me liking him that unbelievable? Though I couldn't believe it myself for a long time. I mean sure, I liked his game route in the game, but in real life… I didn't expect to get used to his grumpiness that easily. I sigh. "Come on, it's so true.", Virginia teases me. "You like him?", Ellen asks me with big eyes. I shrug.
"Just a childish crush, nothing more. He's handsome and I like his dry humor." "He is a very intelligent man.", Ellen adds, but she doesn't look convinced.
She has problems accepting, that I could actually like him? Is it that unlikely, that someone could like him? "Anyways, our relationship could be described as 'friends' at most, and I don't plan to change that, so rest assured. I will stay his wife in name only.", I dryly conclude.
I still have a sense for propriety, my current body is only sixteen years old. Besides, getting his love is impossible anyway, I doubt that the heroine actually succeeded in the game. The kiss was described as 'like a greeting', so it probably was just a pity-kiss or something like that.
"So anything else?", I ask them relieved, that we finally dealt with this issue. "Oh yeah, Ellen, are you dating Donald?", Virginia turns to Ellen.
I give her a reassuring smile. "… yes?", she confesses. We tease her a bit about not letting him influence her into becoming a bad student, before we head to class.

I'm more relaxed now, since we have talked it out. With this, our exam should be successful, right? After classes, we go together towards our exam room and Potsdam starts instructing us, "Today's exam works a bit differently than usual. You're all going into the dungeon together. Your task is to find the crystal orb and use your energy to light it up, before time runs out. It will not be easy to find, and you will face many dangers, so you need to work together to conquer this challenge. Good luck!" And with that, she teleports us into the dungeon. Darkness surrounds me, deeper than the darkness in the first dungeons. I can't even see my own feet…
It's a good thing, that I'm not afraid of the dark, otherwise I would panic now. Suddenly a light flashes up, looks like Ellen casted it.
"Put that light out! It might attract monsters.", Virginia reprimands her. "If we all huddle around it, the light won't get far.", Ellen defends herself softly.
We follow her advice and crouch closer together. "So any ideas for our strategy?", I ask them. We have a time limit, so we must find a way to effectively search the dungeon, without wasting too much energy. "Well, since you're just friends with your husband, I don't suppose he's given you any hints on how to solve this dungeon?", Virginia teases me. I chuckle. "He would be the last person to give me hints, since this is part of our training."
"Yes, but did you ask?", Virginia continues teasing me. "Of course not. Wouldn't it be cheating, if I received hints?" "That's how it should be.", comments Ellen.
"I still don't get, why you have the hots for him…", Virginia continues teasing me. "Virginia!" I stare at her in shock. "What? Why are you suddenly embarrassed?", she questions me confused. "He's probably monitoring our exam! Besides, at least declare my feelings for him properly to him, if you have to do so! I'm not having the 'hots' for him, it's just a childish crush or something...", I scold her. My cheeks feel hot…
"Oh… sorry? But since the secrets out now, why not go for him?", Virginia suggests. Are you kidding me? "Impossible! He has no heart to give…", I reject, sounding a bit distraught. Virginia giggles. "Yeah, that much is definitely true." Argh! "I don't mean it that way! I'm not saying he's heartless. However, his heart is unobtainable… Arg, whatever, so what's our strategy?", I change the topic, feeling distressed. This is a bit upsetting, I hope this won't hinder me from solving the exam.
"Well, let's see which way we need to go." Virginia casts a Breeze. "That's… strange. That usually gives me a direction.", she observes pensively.
"I guess we'll have to look the hard way. The crystal has to be out there somewhere.", Ellen concludes. "That won't do. This dungeon is vast and we have a time limit. We need a good strategy for our search.", I object. "I have an idea-", Ellen and Virginia synchronically reply. They both stop and look at each other.
"We need to find the crystal. That's the goal, that's how we win.", Ellen explains first. Well, that's kind of obvious though. Does that even count as a plan?
"We need to find the boss monster. There's bound to be one ,and if we don't handle the main threat, it could sneak up on us.", Virginia describes her plan.
Well, I guess it counts as a plan, but it's a sh*tty one. I mean, seriously? She proposes, that we wipe out the monsters in this cave instead of searching for the crystal? That's stupid! Ok, there is a certain chance, that the crystal will be near the 'boss monster', but wouldn't it be way too cliché?
"It's obvious, that we should try to fulfil our goal, which is finding the crystal, but my question was 'how do we look for it in the best possible way?'. If we split up, we'd be able to cover more area in less time, however helping each other would be more difficult and we need to stay in contact. Virginia, white magic is your worst subject, so upholding a Communication-spell would be difficult for you, right? I propose that we only split in two groups: you together with Ellen, and I alone. You tend to head straight into trouble, taking Ellen with you would restrict this streak of you a bit." I turn to Ellen, "And Ellen, you tend to be a bit too prissy with making decisions, Virginia can counter your indecisiveness. And about me… well, I'm not overthinking as much as you, nor as am I straightforward as Virginia. However, I'm also not as strong in combat as Virginia, nor as good on concentrating as you, Ellen, but I think I should barely manage on my own somehow."
When it comes to studying, Ellen has clearly overtaken me. To my defence, I was a bit distracted. Also, Ellen is not human, when it comes to studying, it's really impressive. Ellen and Virginia agree to my plan and I'm relieved, that they don't mind my analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. I have lost friends before, by pointing out their peculiarities.

We head off in different directions and I increase my hearing ability with green magic, in order to avoid bumping into monsters, and cast Awareness, in order to estimate in which direction I should head off. Unfortunately, the Darkness-spell of the dungeon seems to inhibit my Awareness-spell, decreasing the amount of area it covers greatly. Since white magic is my weakness, I decide not to use it again for now, as it would deplete my mental capacity too much otherwise.
I cast Detect Charm from time to time instead, because I assume, that this dungeon is filled with traps. I come across some traps, which seem to teleport you to another location. I use my thought-connection, in order to warn Ellen about the traps, but they already came across them, but were able to avoid them, due to Ellen's insight. However, they weren't able to avoid a monster, and Virginia had to knock it unconscious. She got hurt a bit in the process, but not much. They make a good team, as expected.
To be honest, I would've preferred going with them, being alone in this darkness, unable to even see my own feet, gives me an uneasy feeling.
I avoid casting Light, since it would attract monsters, and my senses are on full-alert due to this, which adds to my increased hearing ability. Walking through the darkness with my senses on full-alert, feels as if I would visit a haunted house. I stop. I think I heard something scratching? I tilt my head in the direction, from which the noise came from. I can hear it again! Like claws scratching over stone. I carefully start sneaking in the opposite direction… and nearly trip over a small stone… Dammit! I can hear a load roar behind me. Not good. The scratching noises come closer to me in a frightening speed, I have to think of a way to deal with the monster. While I start running away, I cast Detect Charm again. There is another trap nearby. I slow down a bit, letting the monster approach me, while running towards the trap. I manage to leap over the trap, without touching it or using green magic. Suddenly, the roaring behind me stops and I slow down. Oh good, it worked.
I was afraid it wouldn't work, but it seems the monsters in this dungeon are still stupid, though dangerous nonetheless.
I wonder, if the dungeon monsters in the higher grades are more intelligent? They should be, right?
A tingling sensation slightly washes over me, and I stop my steps again. What was it? The feeling got weaker, as I walked on, so I take a few steps back.
There it is again! A small tingling feeling. "Guys? Something feels tingly… Magic?", I send my thoughts towards Ellen and Virginia.
"We also felt something tingly. I think we're closer to it, than you. It should be the crystal orb, right? Let's meet up.", Ellen answers. I meet up with them,
using our mind-connection. Together, we proceed to follow the tingling feeling, which grows a bit stronger with every step. "Wait.", I whisper to the two of them and grab their sleeves. They look at me questioningly, but I ignore them and further enhance my hearing ability.
There it is again, the sound of claws stroking over the stone floor. I decide to double-cast Awareness for further information on the quantity and location of the monsters. I have to double-cast the spell unfortunately, in order to cover enough area with it, due to the dungeons inhibition.
There's a big bulk of monsters ahead of us, there is no way, that we'll be able to take them all on.
I inform my roommates about the situation, via the mind-connection. "So what shall we do?", asks Ellen. "We can't fight them, but the crystal orb should be in that direction…", I comment. "If we can't fight, maybe we can lure them away instead?", Virginia suggest. That actually sounds like a good plan…
"One of us could draw their attention and then run away, while the others search for the crystal. And then they find it, they can teleport the one running away to them." The heck?! That's way too risky! "… or we just lure them away, without endangering one of us?", I propose. "Like what?", asks Ellen.
It's a pity she lacks creativity, since she is so good at studying. Virginia is usually takes the most direct approach, also lacking creativity. I ponder a bit about different ways to lure the monsters away, without implicating us. Suddenly my encounter with the monster earlier comes to my mind.
"We could simply drop a stone somewhere away from us, but near enough for them to hear it. That should suffice." Since I can only find small stones lying around,
I use black magic, to create a big rock out of the floor, which Ellen teleports away from us. The rock falls down with a loud crash, and soon after the bulk starts trampling into the direction. Meanwhile Virginia creates a Breeze, in order to hide our scent, and I make another rock, which Ellen teleports even further away.
Luckily, these monsters are so stupid… After luring them even further away with a third rock, we head towards the tingling feeling.
Soon we reach a stone altar, with a crystal orb floating above it. We found it! And we still have enough time. "Ok, me first.", Virginia exclaims excitedly and touches the orb, in order to direct magical energy into it. Surprisingly, it takes her a while to do so. "Directing magic into it is kind of difficult…", she states with a frown. I'm next.
My hands softly touch the orb and I begin drawing the magic into the orb in my mind. It is indeed a surprisingly complex process, similar to solving a puzzle, since the magic will only flow deeper into the orb on certain points. I finally managed to reach the center of the orb with my magic, and it's Ellen's turn.
"Guh, I have a headache from casting so much, I can't concentrate…", Ellen complains. "Ah, I can using healing magic on you, that way the headache should disappear.", I offer Ellen. She gratefully accepts my offer, and I relieve her off her headache. Now I'm the one having a headache from casting so much, but it can't be helped, since Ellen needs to pour her magic into the orb, in order for us to finish the exam.
After we managed to pour our magic into the orb, blue magic engulfes us, and we get teleported to the yard, where Potsdam is already waiting for us. "Congratulations, all of you. You have successfully completed your freshman year! That will be five merits for each of you. Now, go and relax! You have a dance coming up to enjoy." With this, I have successfully completed my freshman year. "Oh, wait, Elise?", Potsdam grabs my arm, as I turn to leave. "Yes?", I ask her confused.
"A childish crush, hm? You should be more honest with yourself.", she tells me with wink. …No comment.